O presente estudo tem por objetivo demonstrar a necessidade de se tutelar a desigualdade substancial existente nas relações contratuais celebradas entre empresários, quando uma das partes, ainda que profissional, encontrar-se em situação de dependência econômica, favorecendo o abuso da parte contrária na situação concreta. O cerne do trabalho gira em torno do problema das cláusulas abusivas no âmbito dos contratos interempresariais. Busca-se demonstrar que, nas hipóteses em que não for possível repreendê-las por meio da aplicação do Código Civil ou da Lei Antitruste, seria possível equiparar o contratante vulnerável, sujeito a um abuso por parte de seu parceiro contratual, aos consumidores, para fins de aplicação dos dispositivos do Código de Defesa do Consumidor CDC ao contrato em questão. Para tanto, são analisados os conceitos de empresário, de consumidor tendo em vista as três principais correntes doutrinárias existentes no ordenamento pátrio e de dependência econômica. Especificamente em relação à definição de consumidor, tenta-se demonstrar que, nos dias de hoje, a Teoria Finalista Aprofundada parece ser a que melhor atende à necessidade de se buscar a solução mais justa no caso concreto, sem, contudo, banalizar a aplicação do CDC. Por fim, faz-se uma análise da jurisprudência brasileira sobre o tema, com o objetivo de delimitar os critérios para a incidência do CDC em contratos interempresariais, bem como os principais casos em que o conceito de consumidor-equiparado tem prevalecido nos litígios decorrentes de tais contratos. / The objective of the present study is to demonstrate the need of instructing the substantial inequality existing in contractual relations signed between businessmen, when one of the parties, although still professional, finds itself in a situation of economic dependence, favoring the abuse of the counterpart in the real situation. The core of this work involves the problem regarding abusive clauses in the scope of inter-business contracts. It seeks to demonstrate that, in hypothesis where it is not possible to reprehend them by means of application of the Civil Code or Antitrust Act, it would be possible to match the vulnerable contracting party, subject to an abuse by its contractual partner, to the consumers, for purposes of application of the provisions in the Consumer Defense Code CDC to the contract in question. To do so, it analyzes the concepts of businessman and consumers considering the three main doctrinaire schools of thought existing in the country system and economic dependence. Specially in relation to the definition of consumers, it attempts to demonstrate that, nowadays, the In-depth Finalist Theory seems to be the best theory that meets the need of searching for the more righteous solution in the real case, without, however, trivializing the application of the CDC. At last, an analysis of Brazilian jurisprudence is made on the subject, aiming to delimitate the criteria for the incidence of CDC in inter-business contracts as well as the main cases in which the concept of consumer has prevailed in such contracts for one of the parties.

Non-audit services provided by audit firms have been a popular scientific topic within the fields of audit and accounting research over the past decades. Numerous researchers have attempted to provide a theoretical contribution by examining different ways of measuring the concepts of audit quality and financial reporting quality. The resulting consequences are mixed results and a lack of consensus among researchers from both research fields. The two, in other situations, rather distinctive research fields of audit quality and financial reporting quality, have, in several cases, been confounded without analytical reflection regarding their differences. In parallel to the scientific progress, regulatory bodies have noticed the increasing trend of non-audit services and how they constitute larger portions of the audit firm’s annual revenues. Their responses have been legal restrictions, both in the US and Europe, in order to cease the trend. The purpose of this thesis is to make a pronounced investigation regarding the relationship between non-audit services and financial reporting quality in Swedish private firms. Furthermore, it will also be of interest to examine if this proposed relationship is moderated by the presence of the four global market-leading audit firms or not. The study is based on a deductive approach and a quantitative research strategy, to collect and analyze data from annual reports. To fulfill the purpose of the study, the data is analyzed by conducting binary and multinomial logistic regression tests. The results suggest that there is an association between certain types of non-audit services and financial reporting quality. Specifically, services that are unrelated to tax have proven to be statistically significant positively correlated with financial reporting quality. No evidence was found supporting a moderating effect by the characteristics of audit firms, suggesting that the choice of an audit firm is irrelevant for attaining high financial reporting quality when purchasing non-audit services. The study’s theoretical contribution is the novelty arising from the combination of studying non-audit services’ impact on financial reporting quality within a Swedish setting on private firms. The study also provides empirical contribution by using a proxy for financial reporting quality rarely used in previous research. The findings are of practical importance since they suggest that firms potentially benefit in their financial reporting by purchasing these kinds of services, which contradicts past actions made by regulatory bodies.

Made available in DSpace on 2016-04-26T20:20:56Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Priscilla Milena Simonato.pdf: 508067 bytes, checksum: b08fa76ded48c56a5e55f75845435744 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2012-05-28 / This dissertation talks about the concept of economic dependence for getting the pension benefit for death. It aims to analyze who the insured s economic dependents are, according to the Federal Constitution. The pension benefit for Death, constitutionally provided, as well as listed in an ordinary law n. º 8.213/91, is a social security benefit granted to the insured dependents. However, the common law has created an exhaustive list of dependents who have the real social security benefits in case of death risk. This list of dependents, besides having the reliant presumption, violates, in many cases, the constitutional principles about the social justice and exact application of the principle of human dignity, which is a fundamental right and lead us to search the real concept of economic dependence through a constitutional interpretation / A presente dissertação versa sobre o conceito de dependência econômica para fins de concessão do benefício de pensão por morte. Visa analisar quem são os dependentes econômicos do segurado à luz da Constituição Federal. O benefício da Pensão por Morte, previsto constitucionalmente, bem como previsto na legislação ordinária n.º 8.213/91, é um benefício previdenciário concedido aos dependentes do segurado. No entanto, a legislação ordinária criou um rol taxativo de dependentes que fazem jus ao benefício previdenciário na ocorrência do risco morte. Tal rol de dependentes, por ter uma presunção de dependência, em muitos casos fere os preceitos constitucionais da busca da justiça social e a aplicação exata do princípio da dignidade da pessoa humana, direito este fundamental, o que leva na busca do real conceito da dependência econômico através de uma interpretação constitucional

Définies comme des pratiques contractuelles abusives dans les rapports entre professionnels, les pratiques restrictives amoindrissent considérablement la capacité concurrentielle du partenaire commercial. Le droit de la concurrence et plus particulièrement, le droit des pratiques anticoncurrentielles peut constituer une voie de droit permettant la répression de ces comportements. L’étude menée permet de s’interroger sur l’efficacité de l’entente et des abus de domination, entendus comme concepts d’accueil, afin de lutter contre les pratiques restrictives. Alors même que les abus de domination présentent des points de convergence importants avec la notion de «pratique restrictive », l’appréhension est profondément nuancée. Les exigences textuelles inhérentes à la démonstration de l’abus de position dominante (102 TFUE et art. L.420-2, al. 1er du Code de commerce) sont drastiques et l’appréciation de l’abus de dépendance économique en droit français (art. L.420-2, al. 2 du Code de commerce) est si étroite qu’elle ne permet pas de faciliter la captation positive des pratiques restrictives. En outre, la preuve de la restriction de concurrence est difficile à rapporter en présence de comportements qui atteignent, le plus souvent, le simple partenaire contractuel et non le marché entendu dans sa globalité. Paradoxalement, si l’entente apparaît comme un concept peu ressemblant dans ses composantes à la notion de «pratique restrictive », l’appréhension y est privilégiée. Afin de faciliter la mutation de la pratique en comportement concerté, les autorités de concurrence procèdent à une lecture généreuse du critère de la concertation. La restriction de concurrence fait également l’objet d’une appréciation compréhensive. Que l’appréhension soit opérée au titre de l’entente ou des abus de domination, des pistes de réflexion sont proposées afin de perfectionner le traitement concurrentiel des pratiques restrictives. / Defined as unfair contractual practices in relations between professionals, restrictive practices significantly undermine the competitiveness of the trading partner. Competition law and, more specifically, antitrust law can be a remedy to the suppression of these behaviours. The study raises questions about the effectiveness of the cartel and abuse of dominance in the fight against restrictive practices. The analysis tends to gauge their understanding through the prism of the two concepts that are cartels and abuse of dominance. Even as abuse of dominance have important points of convergence with the concept of “restrictive practice”, apprehension is deeply nuanced. Textual requirements inherent in the demonstration of the abuse of dominant position (102 TFUE andart. L.420-2, al. 1 of the Commercial Code) are drastic and appreciation of the abuse of economic dependence in French law (art. L.420-2, al. 2 of the Commercial Code) is so narrow that it does not facilitate the positive uptake of restrictive practices. In addition, evidence of the competition restriction is difficult to bring in conduct that reach, in most cases, the mere contractual partner and not the market heard in its entirety. Paradoxically, if the cartels appears to be a bit like concept in its components to the concept of “restrictive practice ", apprehension is preferred. To facilitate the transfer of practice concerted behaviour, competition authorities proceed to a generous reading of the meeting of minds. Competition restriction is also the subject of a comprehensive appreciation. That apprehension is made under the cartel or abuse of dominant position, actionable insights are proposed to improve the competitive treatment of restrictive practices.

Ces dernières années, un nouveau type de système de production nommé système de production géographiquement dispersé (GDPS) est prôné par de nombreuses entreprises manufacturières internationales. Par cette vision « dispersée », il présente un certain nombre d'avantages tels que l'économie des coûts du produit livré (puisque proche des clients), l'amélioration de la qualité des services (délais de livraison courts, services après-vente de haute qualité) favorisant la pérennité et la compétitivité des entreprises dans un contexte de compétition mondiale. Cependant l’exploitation multi-sites d’un GPDS est confronté à de nombreux défis concernant les normes, les réglementations, la maîtrise des flux de production, et en particulier la planification et l'optimisation de la maintenance en raison de la dispersion géographique des sites de production. Sur ce dernier point et plus globalement la définition d’une stratégie de maintenance adaptée au GDPS, peu d'études ont été menées compte tenu de la jeunesse du sujet et de la complexité des GDPSs (ex. multi-sites, multi-composants). Cette thèse se positionne donc sur ce sujet émergeant avec comme objectif de développer une stratégie de maintenance de regroupement dynamique pour un GDPS en tenant compte de dépendances à la fois aux niveaux composants et sites de production (dépendances économique et géographique) et des impacts des contextes dynamiques (à savoir, taux de détérioration variable des composants, modification des itinéraires de maintenance, possibilités de maintenance, etc.) auxquels il est soumis. Dans cette stratégie, les itinéraires de maintenance et l'ordonnancement sont considérés conjointement dans un modèle global. Le modèle vise à trouver un plan optimal de maintenance et de routage des ressources de maintenance. A cette fin, une structure de coûts et un modèle de dépendance qui prend en compte conjointement la dépendance économique et géographique sont formulés. Ils servent de base à l'élaboration du modèle global de planification et d'ordonnancement de la maintenance et du routage. De plus, pour la recherche de la solution optimale, des algorithmes d’optimisation basés sur l'algorithme génétique et l'algorithme Branch and Bound sont proposés. Enfin, une étude numérique est investiguée pour évaluer la performance, les avantages et aussi les limites de la stratégie proposée. / In the recent years, the Geographically Dispersed Production System (GDPS) with a number of advantages such as saving the product delivered costs (closed to the clients), improving quality of services (short delivery time, high quality after-sales services) has been extensively developed by many manufacturing companies to ensure their competitiveness. In operation, the GPDS faces many challenges concerning standards, regulation, production management, and especially maintenance planning and optimization due to the geographical dispersion of production sites. However, few studies have been developed for maintenance strategies of GDPSs. To face this challenge, the main objective of this thesis is to develop a dynamic grouping maintenance strategy for a GDPS with consideration of dependencies between at both component and site level (economic, geographical dependencies) and impacts of dynamic contexts (i.e. varying deterioration rate of components, change of maintenance routes, maintenance opportunities, etc.). In this strategy, maintenance routing and scheduling are jointly considered in a global model. The model aims at finding an optimal maintenance and routing plan. For this purpose, a cost structure and a dependence model jointly considering economic and geographical dependence are formulated. They are used as a basis for the development of the global model of maintenance routing and scheduling. In addition, to find a joint optimal maintenance and routing plan, advanced algorithms using jointly Genetic Algorithm and Branch and Bound are proposed. Finally, a numerical study is investigated to evaluate the performance and the advantage as well as limits of the proposed maintenance strategy.

Les nouvelles technologies caractérisant la quatrième révolution industrielle engendrent, actuellement, une transformation du marché du travail à l’échelle mondiale. Notre mémoire s’intéresse à l’une de ces nouvelles technologies, les plateformes numériques et plus particulièrement, aux plateformes numériques de travail. Apparues il y a maintenant plus d’une décennie, des zones grises demeurent et persistent relativement à la situation des travailleurs de ces plateformes. D’une part, sont-ils liés par un contrat de travail entre un employeur et un salarié ou par un contrat d’entreprise ou de service entre un client et un entrepreneur ou prestataire de services? D’autre part, en raison de leur relation tripartite de travail, qui est leur employeur? Au cours des dernières années, différents États sont intervenus législativement pour encadrer le statut des travailleurs et des entreprises de plateformes en droit du travail. Un constat ressort de ces interventions : une sélectivité de droits est reconnue à ces travailleurs. Ainsi, dans ce mémoire, nous nous sommes intéressée à savoir si l’application des statuts juridiques existant déjà dans les lois du travail permet de protéger les travailleurs de plateformes en leur reconnaissant les mêmes droits que les autres travailleurs. Pour ce faire, nous avons procédé à une étude jurisprudentielle de deux systèmes juridiques caractérisés par des approches différentes : la France (modèle binaire) et le Canada (statut intermédiaire). L’analyse de la jurisprudence française nous a montré que les critères constitutifs du contrat de travail permettent de reconnaître, dans des contextes organisationnels précis, le statut de salarié aux travailleurs de plateformes. Au Canada, notre recherche nous a permis de constater que ces mêmes travailleurs peuvent être considérés comme des entrepreneurs dépendants là où ce statut existe dans la législation. Ces statuts permettent aux travailleurs de plateformes de bénéficier de protections. Cependant, le statut de salarié rattaché au modèle binaire est plus avantageux pour le travailleur puisqu’il donne accès à une large protection. / The new technologies describing the Fourth Industrial Revolution are currently causing a transformation of the labor market on a global scale. Our thesis focuses on one of these new technologies, digital platforms and more particularly, digital labour platforms. During more than a decade, grey zones remain and persist in regards to the situation of workers on these platforms. On the one hand, are they bound by an employment contract between an employer and an employee or by a contract of enterprise or for services between a client and a contractor or service provider? On the other hand, because of their tripartite employment relationship, who is their employer? In recent years, several countries have taken legislative action to regulate the status of workers and platform companies in labor law. One observation emerges from these interventions: a selectivity of rights is recognized for these workers. Thus, in this thesis, we are interested in knowing whether the application of the legal statuses already existing in labor laws makes it possible to protect platform workers by recognizing the same rights as other workers. To do this, we conducted a jurisprudential study of two legal systems characterized by different approaches: France (binary model) and Canada (intermediate status). The analysis of French case law has shown us that the constituent criteria of the employment contract make it possible to recognize, in specific organizational contexts, the status of employee for platform workers. In Canada, our research has enabled us to observe that these same workers can be considered as dependent contractors, since this status already exists in the legislation. These statutes allow platform workers to benefit from protections. However, the status of employee related to the binary model is more advantageous for the worker since it gives access to broad protection.

La ricerca prende avvio dalla ricostruzione dei processi socio-economici che hanno portato alla crisi del modo di produzione taylorista-fordista. Muovendo da tali riflessioni, si constata come le imprese “post-fordiste” si avvalgano in misura crescente di lavoratori autonomi, un tempo coordinati e continuativi e, oggi, a progetto (artt. 61 e ss., d.lgs. 276/2003). Tali collaboratori sono, dunque, soggetti ad un potere (contrattuale) di coordinamento del committente che, alle volte, si somma ad una condizione di dipendenza economica dal committente medesimo. Si crea, quindi, una differenziazione interna all'area dell'autonomia coordinata che non pare adeguatamente valorizzata dal legislatore ordinario, ma che sembra interessare i sindacati. Il dato reale vede, infatti, agire rappresentanze varie, sicché occorre circoscrivere l'ambito di applicabilità degli artt. 39 e 40 Cost. L'assenza di un genuino interesse collettivo e di un'effettiva attività di autotutela inducono a ritenere che i collaboratori “forti” e il relativo associazionismo possano beneficiare delle sole tutele poste dagli artt. 2, 18 e 41 Cost. A conclusione si affrontano le problematiche che la ricostruzione così svolta solleva, ovverosia come garantire l'effettività delle tutele riconosciute al sindacalismo dei collaboratori “deboli” e come contemperare l'associazionismo dei collaboratori “forti” con il diritto antitrust comunitario. / The search starts with the reconstruction of socio-economic processes. Moving from these reflections, it's possible to see that today's companies take advantage of increasingly self-employed coordinated and continuous and, after d.lgs. 276/2003 “lavoratori a progetto”. These employees are, therefore, subject to a power (contractual) coordination of the customer that, at times, it adds up to a state of economic dependence by the same. It then creates an internal differentiation into autonomy area that does not seem properly valued by the ordinary legislator, but that seems to involve trade unions. Given that in reality there are different representations, we move to circumscribe the scope of applicability of the Arts. 39 and 40 Const. The absence of a genuine interest and genuine self activities suggest that employees "strong" and its associations can only benefit from the protections posed by Arts. 2, 18 and 41 Const. At the end tackling the problems so that the reconstruction turn raises, namely how to ensure the effectiveness of the safeguards recognized unionism collaborators "weak" and reconcile the associations of employees "strong" with the antitrust law.